Neural stimulation has been proposed as a therapy for a number of conditions. Examples of neural stimulation therapies include neural stimulation therapies for respiratory problems such as sleep disordered breathing, blood pressure control such as to treat hypertension, cardiac rhythm management, myocardial infarction and ischemia, heart failure (HF), epilepsy, depression, pain, migraines, eating disorders and obesity, and movement disorders.
Some neural stimulation therapies stimulate the vagus nerve to lower heart rate. For example, previously-proposed cardiovascular therapies use vagal stimulation therapy (VST) to lower heart rate, which has long been considered beneficial to HF patients, for example, based on the belief that a lower heart rate will reduce the oxygen demand of the heart, and improve profusion and work efficiency of the failing heart.